Dos por Tres stoves remove toxic smoke that causes health problems.

For 500,000 rural families in Honduras, an improved stove is a potential life saver. Families like these do not have the money for or easy access to clean fuels like gas or electricity. They are dependent on the use of fuel wood and sub-standard stoves for cooking. 68.5% of families in Honduras live in poverty with 20% of rural households subject to extreme poverty.

Families that work in these agricultural areas don't have spare cash with which to purchase stoves. So, Mirador has created a no-cash model whereby users provide bricks and mortar for stove construction and Mirador pitches in with the specialized stove parts, a technician to build the stove and follow up visits. All of this is funded by donations and the sale of carbon credits.

In the rural locations where we work, 81% of households use indoor wood burning stoves. Smoke and particulate matter (soot) are a serious health risk, especially to women and children who spend the most time near the stove. When wood burns, it emits 26 hazardous air pollutants including carbon monoxide, ammonia, and methane as well as fine respirable particles of less than 2.5 microns (µ) that penetrate deep into the lungs.

Soot particulates compromise the body’s defense systems and its ability to filter and remove toxic particles. The U.S EPA suggests limiting exposure to 150 micrograms per M3to just once in 100 days, and only outdoors (Nacher, L., et. al., Critical Review of the Health Effects of Woodsmoke, 2005, p 57). Particulate matter can reach 20 times this amount every day inside poor Honduran homes.

A Global Burden of Disease study published in Dec 2012 (Lim S.S. and others), reports that about 4 million premature deaths are attributable to Household Air Pollution. In 2000, WHO ranked indoor air pollution (IAP) created by burning solid fuel as one of the top 10 health risks in the world. It reported that globally 1.5 million people (predominately women and children) die each year from respiratory infections, cardiovascular disease and cancer from indoor cooking stove smoke. Further, the WHO reports that IAP kills more people each year than malaria, and causes almost as many deaths as unsafe water and sanitation. Smoke has also been thought to be a factor in the development of asthma, cataracts (the leading cause of blindness worldwide), low birth weight, and adverse pregnancies (Smoke, the Killer in the Kitchen, Warwick, H. & Doig, A, 2004).

La Estufa 2x3 vs. a traditional stove. Note the clear reduction in CO (carbon monoxide) and particulate matter emissions. (WBT stands for Water Boiling Test and measures the amount of gas and particulate matter emitted in the time it takes to boil 1 L of water.